Arc
by BML Hillen-Keene
Summary: A collection eventually of stories based around the character of Arc and his relationships with the other Warriors of Light, and his past.
1. Barroom Brawl

_Disclaimer: do not own, unfortunately._

_My computer broke down a while ago, and currently I can only get on it for a while at a time because my battery and new power cable are messed up. This is why (should anyone waiting for an update on any of my other stories) I have not updated. I need the time to write the next few chapters. However, while my laptop was playing dead I bought a new DS, and the new finial fantasy 3 game that goes with it, and while I have not gotten very far, something about the character's kind of struck me. This will not simply be a single story, but a collection of shorter one's, not really based on any specific parts of the game (unles something eally interesting happen's later on that I am unaware of). These little snippits are not particularaly long, which is the only reason I've been able to write them up and get them saved before my laptop switches itself off._

_At any rate, have a read. My little snippits focus primarily on Arc, and to a lesser degree on Ingus, because for some reason., those two just strike me as the most adorable game characters ever!_

1.

"Luneth!" Arc reached out in a vain effort to stop his childhood friend stalking towards the table on the other side of the inn's barroom, his eyes flashed with something that was almost like shame. He wished Ingus and Refia were here; they could stop the angry silver haired boy before he started a fight. Arc watched Luneth stalk over to a table consisting of four fully-grown, robust men, each carrying a sword. They were dangerous men, and Luneth was going to get himself killed, all because Arc was too much of a coward to stand up for himself.

He watched in growing dismay as Luneth provoked the men with a few quite and cutting words, he knew this because it was how Luneth normally set about starting a fight with anyone, saying a few words, whether truthful or not that would work up the others rage. Arc hated to watch it happen, even if the person Luneth fought with was deserving. But in this case… Arc bit his lip worriedly, trying to will himself to stand, go over there and pull Luneth away, or to maybe cast some kind of a spell, maybe 'sleep' on those men. But he couldn't bring himself to move, humans were so much different from the monsters and ghouls they normally dealt with. Arc didn't know how to handle humans.

His eyes widened as he watched Luneth crack one of the men across the jaw, making the other's at the table leap up. He didn't notice that he had made his lip bleed as he debated what to do. Luckily, Ingus and Refia chose that very moment to reappear. Ingus immediately placed himself between the four men and Luneth, speaking quickly, calming them down while Refia dragged the protesting Luneth towards the stairs to their rooms.

Arc shrank back into his seat when he saw Ingus glance in his direction, but that action did not prevent the king's guard from seeing him. He watched Ingus order a round of ale for the men to settle them, diplomatically smoothing over the entire incident, before heading towards him. Arc looked at the table, and braced himself for a tongue-lashing, like the kind Ingus always gave Luneth when he did something stupid, or heroically idiotic. Though in his case, Arc was sure it would be worse, because not only had he somehow managed to start this whole thing, but he had gotten Luneth involved. He didn't want Ingus to be mad at his friend.

Arc waited… and waited… until the feeling of those intense blue eyes became too much, and the weight of the stare became too heavy for him to bear. He looked up, startled to find not the angry look he had been expecting, but an inquiring stare.

"Would you like to explain what just happened, if I ask Luneth it will only end up as a shouting match." Ingus requested a hint of a smile on his lips, taking Arc by surprise.

The mage looked back at the table and swallowed. He didn't want Ingus to be angry with him; he didn't like it when anyone was angry with him. that was why he took such great pains to stay on the sidelines and in the shadows so much; so that he would give no one a reason to angry with him, he could recall a time when anger was the only thing ever directed at him. Suppressing a shudder, he gathered his courage, he may not want to face Ingus's anger, but he couldn't let Luneth take the fall for something that was primarily his fault.

"Arc?" Ingus sounded concerned, but Arc didn't look up to confirm it.

"It was my fault." he said quietly, forcing the words out barely more than a whisper, but it was the best he could manage.

"I don't believe that for a second." Ingus said, a hint of amusement warring with concern in his voice. "You don't have to cover for Luneth if he was just picking a fight."

"But he only did it because of me." Arc protested quietly, thinking furiously, trying to formulate a coherent explanation that would allow his friend to get off without a scolding this once, he knew how much it hurt Luneth's feelings when Ingus scolded him about things.

"What?" Ingus' voice was confused, but with a slightly unbelieving tone to it. "Would you care to explain that? And would you look at me."

Arc's eyes rose automatically at the command, searching the older boys face for any signs of anger, finding none he tried to quell his nervousness and began to explain. It had started, he began, voice shaking slightly, when Arc had returned from the outhouse. He had noticed the men at the table earlier of course, but had thought nothing much of them, except manoeuvring around them carefully so as not to cause any problems. This plan had unfortunately not worked quite so well on his way back in from relieving himself, someone had knocked against him as he passed the table, causing him to accidentally bang against the men's, spilling one of their ale's. Before he could right himself, one of the men had grabbed his wrist, pinning it to the table, making it virtually impossible for him to pull away. The man had grinned at him in a rather disturbing manner before releasing him. Arc had been about to apologise when another man had rested his hand a little too comfortably on the boys ass. Arc had squirmed away uncomfortably, ignoring the almost jeering laughs at his expense, mumbled his apologies and returned to the table where Luneth was waiting, his eyes smouldering dangerously. Arc had barely sat down when Luneth was on his feet and heading for the other table.

Arc didn' want to look at Ingus then, so he dropped his eyes, tucking his chin into the little scarf type thing around his neck, and waited for the lecture or proper behaviour, or how he should have handled the situation.

"It appears I had the misfortune of stopping a well deserved punishment." Ingus said thoughtfully. Arc snapped his attention back up, only to find the other boy regarding the laughing men with a glint in his eyes that Arc could recall seeing in battle, calculating.

Arc blinked, feeling somewhat confused, did Ingus mean that Luneth was not in the wrong? Or… He blinked again, human's confused him far too much, this was why he preferred his books. He wasn't aware that his eyes had drifted to the table in his confused haste to make sense of what was going on, until he felt strong fingers under his chin forcing his head and eyes to rise up until they met Ingus'. Arc flushed as blue eyes bore into his own boring brown ones.

"This was not your fault." Ingus told him, conviction ringing strong in his voice. "Those men had no right to touch you like that, or make you uncomfortable. What Luneth did was the right thing, and I have every intention of telling him so."

"But I…" Arc trained off for a moment, before finally answering the silent question Ingus was asking. "I should have… said something… done something… then Luneth wouldn't have had to… I'm a coward…" that last part was whispered so low it went almost unheard.

"You are many things Arc, but a coward is not one of them." The older boy told him, not removing his fingers, knowing Arc's head would bow forward once again, as it had many times in the past. "You are a good, strong, kind hearted man. I know little of your past, so I cannot say why you shy away from people, but that does not make you a coward. And Luneth would have leapt to defend your honour no matter what, because he is your friend, as I would, and as Refia would. And we all know that if the time called for it, you would do exactly the same thing for any one of us."

Arc blushed deeply at the intense scrutiny, and at the simple conviction, the certainty Ingus had that he would do the same for any of them. Arc liked to think he would defend the others if called for, but he had the feeling that it probably wouldn't turn out quite like that in real life.

"Now, if you're finished here, we should make haste to our rooms, I believe I owe Luneth an apology." Ingus hid the grimace at the idea of apologising to the brash youth, but this was one time he would; without any hesitation. Arc nodded and they stood, weaving through the tables, he kept his head bowed slightly, eyes angled at peoples legs and not their face's, so he never saw the icy look Ingus bestowed upon the table of men by the bar as they passed it on their way towards the stairs. Though he did wonder at the guiding hand Ingus had placed on his shoulder.

_I am aware that I wrote some... umm... strange things here, I don't know why. Not much is given about their past's, so any hints of Arc's are entirely my own (and based before he was taken in by the elder who raised Luneth). I don't know whether it could be considered out of character or not, but oh well. please reveiw, I've been dreadly missing reading new reveiws. (and to anyone waiting for an update to children, I shall update very very soon, I just gotta type up the chapter)._


	2. Elements

_Before you read the story. This is short and confusing. Unfortunately I couldn't think of anyway to end this little drabble thing effectively, so if it seems cut off please forgive it. Also, there is implied Ingus/Arc, though obviously nothing has happened between them... yet... Yes, that does mean that these little stories will eventually be offically Ingus/Arc. if you don't like it then don't read it. Also, this part is a kind of Luneth pov, kind of... _

_Review please, even just a one worded one, I don't mind, just please reveiw._

2.

"Hey Arc, whatcha thinking about?" Luneth asked, seeing the slight smile on his friends face. He grinned when Arc blinked at him and blushed slightly. Arc was always so much fun to tease; he blushed so prettily after all. "Well?" he pestered, aware that Ingus and Refia had turned to watch, he knew this would further fluster his shy friend, but he was genuinely curious as to what would make that tiny smile appear on Arc's lip's; for it was a rare sight all told.

"Uh… well… nothing really." Arc said quietly, valiantly trying to stop blushing, but having no luck.

"Come one Arc, you were smiling, so what was it?" Luneth asked. "Please, I'm curious." he knew that would make Arc tell him, his friend knew him well enough to know that when he was curious he did not let things go.

"I was… uh…" Arc blushed again. "I was just thinking that you remind me of the elements." he rushed out after a deep breath.

Luneth blinked. "Huh?"

Arc bit his lip worriedly; most likely afraid he'd said the wrong thing. "It's just… Well… you make me think of the element of fire… because you're passionate, energetic, you help people, like a fire does, you keep them safe, like a fire keeps them warm and protected. You just…" he trailed off, his blush becoming deeper. "And Refia, she's like Wind, it can be calm, soothing, healing, just like she can, but then it can also whip into a great destructive force, like Refia if she's angry enough. And Ingus, you're like water, all calm and collected, always there, until someone stir's up the water, then it can become as deadly and as ferious as the fire and the wind in battle. You're all just like the elements." Arc shrugged lightly, winching a little at his terrible explanation, it had sounded much nicer, much more poetic in his head.

"And you?" Ingus questioned.

Luneth looked back at the older boy to find him studying Arc, and he found himself wondering at that look.

"Me?" Arc sputtered for a moment, drawing Luneth's attention back to him. "Me?" he repeated, quieter. "I… I guess I would be earth. Plain, boring and brown."

Luneth scowled, he hated that Arc always put himself down, after everything, they had done so far, that he could still think like that… it was just wrong. "You are not plain, or boring, I'll give you brown, because that at least is true. You know your not. You're a warrior of Light!" Luneth said, crossing his arms and looking like his words were everything and nothing more was required.

And perhaps there really wasn't, but that hardly stopped Arc thinking that way, and Luneth knew this. But he didn't know how to make his friend see it. His brows creased as he tried to think of something, anything, that could make Arc more confident in himself. His friend had done any number of brave things, things he probably didn't even realise he'd really done.

"There is a lot more to earth than you seem to think."

Luneth blinked from his thoughts and looked at Ingus. The older boy had not moved from his spot, and was still looking at Arc with that same intensity as earlier. Luneth wasn't entirely sure he liked it. He looked back over to Arc who was looking to Ingus, confused.

"Earth is solid, dependable, and no matter what happens to it, whether it be burnt by fire, drowned by water, or whipped up by wind, it will always remain. Nothing can destroy earth. It can also be one of the most powerful of all the elements, just think of earthquakes. Earth is also the basis of the other elements. Without Earth, there would be no forests, therefore nothing to burn, thus no fire. Without Earth, the wind could not be seen, and thus its beauty could not be acknowledged. And without Earth what would be the point in water, there would be nothing to contain it and hold it, it wouldn't exist." Ingus fell silent for a moment. "I think we must conclude that yes, earth is definitely your element."

Luneth blinked at the words, and cast his gaze back to Arc, in time to see the slightly shell shocked expression before he lowered his head, blushing terribly. Luneth looked at Reifa, hoping she shared his own confusion at what had just happened, she on the other hand was looking at Ingus, a slight smirk hovering on her lips.


	3. Nightmares

_Hi again, I haven't been feeling much like writing recently, but I was playing ff3 again and got to the floating tree part (I deleted my game where I was further ahead than that by accident-it was a very sad time) so I was playing it. the first part of this one is my version of what happened then. Of course, I firmly believe it takes much longer to heal aftr such an event, so the end part of this reflects that. Also, this is an Arc/Refia interaction (just friendship, I have many plans for Arc and Ingus). I will most liked write other stories that come before this one as I play the game many times over because I am very sad that way._

_Anyway, read, review and most importantly, enjoy!_

3.

_Arc watched as Ingus fell before the onslaught of blows. Hein must have seen that Ingus took command during battle, that without him they would fumble. That Luneth would become reckless, and that Arc, their offensive magic user would fumble and fail. He wasn't like Luneth or Refia, he wasn't able to take control, to know what he must do. Ingus made the plans, Arc followed them._

_Luneth had fallen next, taking a blow that could have killed Refia. Arc didn't know if he had survived, his mind getting cloudy with confusion. He was spitting forth spells as fast as he could manage, feeling the tingle every time Refia healed him._

_He was their last hope. If Ingus and Luneth were still alive then he was the only thing standing between them and a horrible death by Hein. Refia's healing could only do so much._

_Then Refia fell, and he was alone. Sending spell after spell, item after item, not caring that each time Hein struck he was getting weaker, he didn't have time to care. Hoping everytime that one spell, one item, would work, and that Hein would crumble to the ground like any enemy before. But each time Hein stayed standing, a hideous grin stretched across his skull face. _

_The attacks left him weak, kneeling on the ground, staring wide eyed as Hein approached him. He was going to die. They were all going to die because he hadn't been strong enough._

_He cast his eyes back towards the others, looking at their prone bodies. He steeled something inside himself. The same thing he had steeled when he left his home village in search of ghosts, the same thing he had steeled when he had asked Luneth if he could journey with him. Drawing a breath, he dug in his robes until he found something he could use. He couldn't hear anything Hein was saying to him, it was all just screeching, clacking sounds._

_This was never going to work. Hein was too powerful. But it was all he had._

"_I'm sorry." he whispered to his friends._

_He turned back, forcing himself to his feet, facing his death head on. He hurled the item into the air, and with as much command as he could muster, he yelled._

"_ANTARCTIC WIND!"_

_And he waited for the death blow._

"Arc…? Arc!"

Arc sat up with a start, a spell on his lips and ready to be uttered. Warm fingers stopped them as they settled over his mouth. "Arc, calm down. You were having a nightmare… again."

It was Refia.

Arc relaxed as soon as he knew he wasn't being attacked. But tension was still evident in his frame. "Th… Thank you… for waking me that is. I'm sorry I woke you…" he trailed off quietly.

"You didn't wake me. I was on watch." Refia said, looking over to where Ingus and Luneth slept on, neither in any great shape to stay up all night to keep watch. She looked back at Arc, a small, reassuring smile gracing her features. "Are you alright?"

"Yes" Arc responded, almost automatically, though it was far from the truth. This nightmare had been haunting him for days now, two or three times a night. He just couldn't get over what had happened.

"You want to talk about it? My father says it's better to share the problem, that way it gets smaller." Refia offered; in a tone that would let Arc back out if he wanted.

Arc gratefully took this escape. He didn't need anyone else to know about how it haunted him. He was sure it would never bother anyone else like this.

They sat in silence for a time, the little fire cackled gently in the background, watching the two sleeping figures.

"You know," Refia said quietly.

Arc looked over to her, but her attention remained on their friends. He waited for her to continue.

"I don't know what I would have done if it had just been me." she continued, head tilted thoughtfully. "I mean, I could have kept myself healed, protected from the worst of the blows maybe, but I would never have been able to defeat him. Not by myself. I know what Luneth would have done; he would have attacked and attacked until he died. Ingus… now he's a little harder, he could have maybe done it, after all, he can use both kinds of magic, but he doesn't have the energy to use enough spells." he stopped, frowning thoughtfully, then turned her head to look at him. "How did you do it?" she asked.

Arc blinked, he had been following her words, knew what she was referring too, but still, the question surprised him. "I don't know." he answered honestly.

"Well, whatever it was worked." she smiled at him. "We never would have won without you."

He blinked at her, surprised. He had never even considered it that way. For the past three days he had been drowning in self-pity, over the fact that he could have gotten them all killed. It hadn't even struck him yet that they were all alive, injured, but alive. That he had succeeded. Hein had fallen.

"I'm sorry." he said then.

Refia looked at him, confused. "What for?"

"For being so wrapped up in what didn't happen." he sighed, not looking at her.

She frowned at him, he knew she did. "Arc," she began gently. "You were the last person standing between him and us. That's a lot of pressure, for anyone to handle. I think you're entitled to be wrapped up in whatever you want for a while. I just wanted you to know that I'm grateful, and they are too."

Arc didn't say anything for a while, just processing what she had said.

"Now, I'm tired, and it's your watch." Refia grinned, settling down onto her back for a moment before curling up on her side towards the fire.

Arc watched her back for a long moment. "Thank you." he whispered, hoping not to disturb her.

"Your Welcome." she whispered back, before yawning and shifting slightly to get comfortable.


End file.
